p2pnet - rss feed: The RIAA and Shareaza
p2pnet news | RIAA News:- “After this month, you won’t be seeing the BearShare ad in the top left spot,” p2pnet posted in May, 2006, going on, “It’s the latest commercial p2p company to be shafted by the corporate music industry.
“The Big Four record labels, all of whom are currently being investigated for bribery and price fixing, have been falsely promoting p2p applications as a major threat to the health of American economy. That looks and sound ridiculous. But it isn’t.
“Using the mainstream media as their willing mouthpieces, Warner Music, Vivendi Universal, EMI and Sony BMG, the company which tried to sneak spyware into uses’ computers, say file sharing is ruining them, all the while banking enormous profits.”
Once upon a time, p2pnet was online thanks wholly to what were then five independent companies marketing P2P file sharing applications —- Bearshare, Blubster, Limewire, Morpheus and Warez P2P.
They were there, and they were competing but today, only Blubster, run by Pablo Soto of Piolet fame, remains.
Pablo is in Spain.
Speaking of Bearshare ……
The real victims were, and still are, the millions of people around the world suddenly forced to look to the deeply corrupt corporate music industry for their music.
Or at least, that’s the way the Big 4 expected (prayed?) it would go.
But that didn’t happen and 99% of online music lovers continue to completely ignore the corporate music offerings, instead looking to the independent sites and services, and the free P2P networks.
However, the the Big 4 organised music cartel isn’t about to give up and FileShareFreak is running RIAA: Three Down, Limewire to Go, an excellent post theorising how the Shareaza travesty may have occurred
It states, “With an ‘assimilation agenda’ that only the Borg would be proud of, the RIAA / IFPI and their puppeteers have almost completed the takeover of all the major P2P players, and just need one final filesharing cornerpiece to complete the home-run. Batting .750 with the new Bearshare, iMesh and the most recent takeover (webjacking) of Shareaza.com; there’s but just one lone P2P juggernaut remaining - Limewire.
“We suspect that there, too, will come a day when filesharers will rightfully have to avoid the Limewire domain - probably sooner than later. The empirical RIAA will use it’s normal modus operandi to acquire Limewire, much in the same surrepticious way they snagged Shareaza less than three months ago.”
FileShareFreak continues >>>
RIAA + Shareaza = The Proof
There is no *definitive proof* that the IFPI and/or RIAA is involved in the latest Shareaza scandal - at least no paper-trail has yet been brought to fruition (c’mon TorrentFreak - if anyone can find it, it’s you!). However, the evidence lies within the facts that iMesh, BearShare and the new Shareaza v4 are all the same P2P client. We already know the RIAA had a heavy-hand in flogging iMesh and BearShare into submission, and in turn conjured up a whole new proprietary P2P software solution as a pay service. How is it possible that this rogue company called Discordia Ltd. - who now owns shareaza.com - got hold of the same proprietary client used by the RIAA? Remember folks, that iMesh & BearShare are not open-source projects. This was no coincidence.
Knowing full well that defeating P2P is futile, perhaps the RIAA methodology is to gobble up as many of these P2P trophies as they possibly can. The philosophy is akin to laying out a spiderweb in the hopes to catch whatever passes your way - the “flies” being unwary seekers of file sharing programs. In an effort to thwart illegal file sharing by branding many well-known P2P programs as “legit” and, of course, pay-to-use, this undoubtedly catches at least some hapless passers-by. It’s a simple lesson in playing the percentages - exactly the same as when they send out those deplorable “Pre-Lawsuit” letters to college kids - some will bite; others will not.
This “dragnet” approach must work to some degree. Take the Shareaza example - since the takeover on Dec. 19/07, Shareaza.com traffic has plummeted, but perhaps not to the extent of what we’d expect (or hope) to see. Statistics show that they rebounded quite nicely since that fateful S-Day one week before Christmas (although latest trends show they’re on a slippery slope). The stats from three major web traffic analyzers (compete.com, quantcast.com and Alexa.com) all show the same metrics. Notice the decline in page views, traffic and overall rank, spanning across the last three months:
Another way to interpret the data is to look at trending since Dec. 19/2007. Clearly they rebounded for the first month, but traffic has been sliding ever since. People are catching on.
So, what’s the reason behind this sudden interest (but recent decline) since the webjacking of Dec. 19th? There are a few reasons, actually:
1. *People were upgrading their existing older versions of Shareaza, and being redirected to the bogus domain. At the time, all older versions would have seen a message similar to the one shown below: (NOTE: this has since been fixed in the latest version of Shareaza, available at the true official website - http://shareaza.sourceforge.net/). This is now beginning to wane as more and more people came to their senses and downloaded the proper version. P2P filesharers are a fickle bunch - take away their free P2P program and slip in a new “pay” program, and most (if not all) won’t be one bit happy about it.
2. *For the first month or so, major software hosting websites such as download.com, tucows.com, afterdawn.com, etc. were offering the newer ShareazaV4.exe version (which is the scam “version” of Shareaza). We’re happy to report that they’ve all switched back to the official version of Shareaza - v2.3.1.0. This explains the dropoff in traffic numbers to www.shareaza.com in recent times - nobody is linking to that bad file anymore since the scam has been publicly exposed. A “Google search” for Shareazav4.exe turns up very few results.
3. *The “scam” Shareaza website still generates a large number of HITS in a search engine. If you do a search for “Shareaza” in Google, the ’scam’ site is the first result shown. Without a doubt, they still develop a lot of traffic from unwary visitors who don’t know any better, and this will continue to occur. Again, it’s a percentage game. It’s for this exact same reason why the RIAA acquired the domain names for iMesh and BearShare - people remember a familiar name, type it into a search engine and voila! they’ve fallen into the trap. They would like nothing better than to “own” Limewire.com as well.
RIAA + Legal P2P File Sharing = Dual Profits
Two things happen when the RIAA muscles in and pistol-whips a P2P file sharing program into submission through threats, lawsuits and takeovers:
*First; they immediately convert it into a monetizing P2P program. Now, instead of users downloading music for free, they’re either having to pay for music (using the same software), or switch P2P programs. This is hardly successful, and received with less than favorable reviews. Why it doesn’t work: Existing older versions of the same software are still able to access the P2P network for free. Two well-known examples are BearShare v5.2.5 and Shareaza v2.3.1.0 that still exist and are completely free. BearShare v5.2.5 doesn’t even have a website anymore, yet remains a very popular choice among filesharers - it’s hosted exclusively by software websites like tucows.com and download.com (this is what keeps it alive).
*Second; when they take an “illegal” file sharing program off the market, more users will be forced to start purchasing CDs again. (At least in theory, this is supposed to be their happy ending). Why it doesn’t work: Users just end up switching to a different P2P program to get the files for free. We’ve seen this time and time again - they shut down Napster, everyone flocks to KaZaA. Shut down KaZaA, everyone goes to Limewire (just to name a few). If they manage to shut down Limewire, that’s when low-level filesharers are going to have some problems. Many inexperienced P2P users are loyal to Limewire exclusively, for lack of knowing any other methods available. So owning the Limewire Trophy is important to the RIAA.
RIAA vs. Limewire - The Ongoing Saga
The case of the RIAA vs Limewire (officially known as Arista vs Lime Wire) is far from over. The latest news is that they’re headed back to court on March 31/08, as described in this latest court document.
Expert reports shall be provided by March 31, 2008; rebuttal reports shall be provided by April 30th, 2008; and expert depositions shall be completed by May 31, 2008.
Our Final Thoughts
With the ever-impending takeover of Limewire (both in program and domain), the RIAA stands to make a tidy profit. www.download.com reports over 138 million downloads for Limewire, and more than one-third of all PCs worldwide now have LimeWire installed. Thus there’s bound to be a profit margin due to increased CD sales and online music revenue bolstered through a monetized version of the same software.
However, Average-Joe filesharer is much wiser than he once was, and has had to learn to adapt to changing P2P times. The RIAA has single-handedly taken down Napster, Morpheus, Grokster, KaZaA, eDonkey, iMesh, WinMX, I2Hub, BearShare and now finally it’s Shareaza’s turn. And if you can see into our crystal ball, Limewire will also fall prey.
Limewire’s assimilation into the RIAA Borg won’t make a lick of difference to the P2P community. There will be a new heavyweight to connect to exact same P2P network (Gnutella) that rolls in and fills the vacancy. The RIAA will be back at square one again, just as it’s been at in the past, many times before. P2P will survive. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Share and Enjoy:
Definitely stay tuned.
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March 7th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Another way to look at this of course, is that p2p users and the people that create this illegal p2p infrastructure can run, but they can’t hide and that’s what matters.
Eventually, it will be too much hassle to set up any more p2p programs or websites - nailing the The Pirate Bay will be when the tide turns, because of it’s infamous brand recognition - and with the legal frameworks that are being increasingly hammered into place (hey, it’s a long hard slog, people!), key instigators in this scene will end up going to prison and paying heavy and generally have their lives ruined in the good name of corporate profits.
THEN the Creative Industries utopia will be achieved - and DRM will return with a vengeance. Trust me, the great unwashed will buy their products.
March 7th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Thank goodness for emule which still has everything (and more) available through Limewire/gnutella or Bittorrent. It’s always been the best source for truly hard-to-find media and best for complete albums and often for older movies (ones with dead torrents).
March 7th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Fastbenders tell your boss at the RIAA/MPAA the above and the following.
As far as p2p application is concerned you are wasting you time parasites!
There is no way to prevent people from continuing to develop P2P application. You rob a domain name? You rob a trade mark if you succceed, (and this is by no mean certain) so what?
It will not stop people from continuing to develop, distribute and use Shareaza.
Shareaza just like many others P2p2 Application is open source.
It’s mean that every one can get the source code and build on it. I have the source code of all the majors p2p application including Shareaza and I can continue to develop it and distribute it myself.
There are hundred of thousands of people like me (at least) spread in many countries and ten of thousand are actually actively developing p2p applications right now as I speaks.
Aplication come and go and if you think that you have anything to do with it you are delusional.
So far you did not even put a dent in the p2p Traffic you idiots! Sooner rather than later you will have to pay back for the extortion campaign you conducted and every day passing while you are doing this is diging your grave deeper.
Beside even if you could stop the development of application such as Shareaza or Emule as impossible as it is it will not stop people from using it because these application are stand alone and do not rely on any central server that soemone has to operate. Such application is both a server and a client.
Tell your boss that they are wasting their time and the little money they hav left. So far they achieved nothing but sink their business. Shooting we are winning we are winning like shitman is doing while the boat is half in the water just make you look ridiculous and pathetic.
The bottom line is that we the customer decided to spend ourt money elswhere and there is absolutly nothing you can do about it. You could destroy internet and it will not do a think for you!
Oh and this: if you think that twenty percent down in your business in 2007 is bad wait for the 2008 result! The Boycott is expending!
Citizen! Do you part for your country and your felow patriots and protect our liberty!
Get ride of the foreigns parasites and the traitors they employ!
BOYCOTT! BOYCOTT! BOYCOTT! BOYCOTT!
NO CD NO DVD NO DOWNLOAD NO NOTHING UNTIL THEY DIE!
DO NOT FEED THE PARASITES!
March 7th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Bloody hell, your English is excessively poor, my friend. (gag) Reading through crap like that is really quite offensive. You should not post on any English forum again, my friend.
Some examples:
“Shareaza just like many others P2p2 Application”, “It’s mean”, “Aplication”. This whole sentence is fucked: “There are hundred of thousands of people like me (at least) spread in many countries and ten of thousand are actually actively developing p2p applications right now as I speaks.”
A gem: “ourt money elswhere and there is absolutly nothing you can do about it. You could destroy internet and it will not do a think for you!”
And finally: “Fastbenders”. You are too stupid to copy a name off a screen! With English like that, I refuse to take anything you say seriously at all. I don’t care if English is not your first language, you are stupid beyond belief. Speak it properly or bugger off English forums.
And finally, I have no connection with the RIAA/MPAA whatsoever.
March 7th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Shareaza is an ongoing fight that will take a year to settle, if ever.
Sufficient evidence already proves the iMesh RIAA/IFPI proxy connection:
(And such hypocritical disregard for IP should be getting a lot more play.)
http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=916 (iMesh domains)
http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=913 (iMesh CEO)
http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=828 (Trademark)
http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34 (Lawsuit+Hijack)
http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=914 (iMesh pdf)
http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=752 (Threats)
Add to this the recent disruptions to Limewire:
http://forum.limewire.org/showthread.php?t=3818
March 7th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
FASSBENDER: Good one! Not sure if the problem is lack of English, though. Looks like he has that Stephen Hawking disease. Nothing ruffles my feathers more than someone who can’t be bothered to type properly, or fix his/her typos. This is not MSN. You have a chance to go back and edit your comments before posting. Doing so makes you look more professional, and your comments will be taken more seriously.
March 7th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
“Doing so makes you look more professional, and your comments will be taken more seriously.”
if you can go back here like you claim why haven’t you edited out your grammar error?
Aber wie sagt eine alte Trollweisheit so schön: Wenn du (als der Troll) keine inhaltlichen Argumente gegen die anderen Diskutanten aufbringen kannst dann kritisiere ihren Stil, ihre Rechtschreibfehler oder die Art wie sie den Text gruppieren.
Und wenn das alles nicht hilft weil du selbst nicht helle genug bist vorgenanntes als gut oder schlecht zu beurteilen dann kritisiere Ihren Nick, das geht immer.
Given that old manual decription, you Fassbender are a b+ Troll and sharkdude is probably just one of your sockpuppets.
March 8th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Gee, Fassbender
If you’re gonna troll a pro-p2p forum playing the devil’s advocate, what did you expect?
I think it is you who are “..stupid beyond belief…”
My advice to you: if you can’t take criticism, stay off the forum.
March 8th, 2008 at 2:13 am
“My advice to you: if you can’t take criticism, stay off the forum.”
I don’t mind *what* people say, as long as as they don’t write like illiterate cretins, examples of which I see all over the net. For example, while I don’t actially agree with your post, I have no objection to it, as it’s written in an intelligent manner. Cheers!
March 8th, 2008 at 2:14 am
Oops! I misspelled “actually”. Can’t correct it now, unfortunately. lol
March 8th, 2008 at 3:32 am
To Brain Bended:
“Bloody hell, your English is excessively poor”
And you are excessively stupid to still hang around with a pack of morons, on a sinking boat, fighting for a lost cause.
My English is what it is and I have a message for you: Take your English dictionary roll it and fuck yourself with it. Is it good English?
You are an RIAA parasite and I did not know that RIAA parasites are also infesting the English dictionary!
While you “don’t actially!!!!!!” agree with my post but would not object as long as it’s written in the same intelligent manner as your; the Intelligence of the music industry you are working for, that produced BritneySlute and MadonaCrap, I have no objection to the fact that you are now irreversibly enraging your customers so that they will never buy anything from you again, since I want you out of business.
Take that to your Boss RIAA agent!
March 8th, 2008 at 3:43 am
As I said above, I don’t have any connection with the entertainment industry, so it’s a bit silly calling me an RIAA troll isn’t it?
“And you are excessively stupid to still hang around with a pack of morons, on a sinking boat, fighting for a lost cause.” So you think the entertainment industry is gonna win too? Interesting.
“My English is what it is and I have a message for you: Take your English dictionary roll it and fuck yourself with it. Is it good English? ” That’s hilarious my friend! And well-written too, of course - well done.
March 8th, 2008 at 4:02 am
Well then, might I suggest you conduct yourself befitting a manner of intelligence with an intent to debate rather than to flagrantly demean posters whose literacy skills are not up to par with your expectations. It’s obvious you need to be a bit more respectful regardless of another’s level of literacy or lack of proficiency in the english language. It was low of you to resort to attacking a poster on a personal level.
BTW, I can understand and I do appreciate your contributions in these forums. You do have some interesting comments. You add spice, and other’s the flavor, to the whole ingredient of debate. And, I forgive you for misspelling ‘akchually.’
March 8th, 2008 at 11:40 am
To Brain Bended:
“So you think the entertainment industry is gonna win too? Interesting.”
You are so, so stupid! Not surprising for someone working for the entertainment industry!
Everyone reading this understood that this is not what I meant. You are on the sinking boat you moron! The name on it is RIAA and you have better to get out NOW!
As far as your dictionary is concerned, did you do it yet?
Your English suck to. Me I have an excuse; you don’t.
March 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I wish for LimeWire to die out, either by force (where the RIAA/MPAA comes in handy), or just by people leaving it. Frostwire is better for that.
March 8th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
The RIAA is PIRATING Shareaza!
March 24th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Proof? Here’s your proof: http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=1070
April 8th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I found this link on the CMS Made Simple Forum regarding Shareaza! Please give it a look:
http://forum.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php?topic=20984.msg102048
April 26th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Anonymous can run, or hide, or sit in plain sight.
P2P will not go away, despite any lawsuits, despite any threats.
Suing your supplier’s fans doesn’t make them more eager to buy your CDs.
Assuming some fateful day passes and it becomes possible to stamp out P2P, the populace will remember the lawsuit phishing against five-year-olds, college students, and grandma, and turn away from the RIAA and the big 4 entirely to find a plethora of free internet radio, artists offering their work for free or for donations, and the company will crumble.
The practice of selling a CD with one good song and a fistful of crap filler for $30 is no longer viable, because the market price of copied music is near nil. The practice of taking over a P2P client’s domain name with strong-arm tactics and deceit to sell songs will fail even where traditional online selling would have worked, because it alienates the user base. The policy of shutting down P2P will not increase CD sales, it will eliminate the most significant source of free advertising and replace it with nothing. People will continue to refuse to buy CDs because the value is not worth the price. Record labels are obsolete. Performances are valuable. Charge more for concerts to get your money. They’re still selling out, so tickets are too cheap.
The internet has changed the value of video and audio formats, and market forces have taken over. Adapt or die, because you can’t sue the change away.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:16 am
I have been using an ‘older’ Shareaza package. I suppose if the RIAA continues to try to force me to pay for music that is sub-par, I just won’t buy any. If they expect me to pay for music, they had better give me the freedom to listen to it first. If it’s good, I always pay for it. They know this, they may not like it, but they know it clear as day.
Personally, I think P2P as an ideal will never die out. Even if you buy, steal, or sue every network into the ground, there are always the individuals who can and do share content through messengers, and of course the good old in-person swap.
To the RIAA itself..
Do not cut into my enjoyment of media. If you do so, I will cut into your profits. This, I guarantee.